Good news for Irish citizens in Taiwan who have not passed the Taiwan driving test yet. Ireland now has a reciprocal agreement with Taiwan in effect for mutual recognition of driving licenses.
Link here- english.mvo.taipei.gov.tw/ct.asp … &mp=117012 (updated links at bottom, need to download the excel for details)
It’s the “mutual” part that’s a bit worrying. I wonder if the Irish powers-that-be actually considered the cost in lives that would have to be paid for the sake of a little political backrub?
Shushh, don’t be ruining a good thing 
This was driven through from the Taiwanese side, obviously their office actually does something in Ireland, at least Irish citizens resident in Taiwan got something out of it in the end.
Sure - but on the Irish side, they could have said “yes, we’ll accept your driving licenses … when your driving test is equivalent to ours. Or at least when you have a driving test”. The Taiwanese craving for international approval would have brought some positive results, I bet … thus making those Irish expats a little safer while driving on the streets of Taiwan. A big missed opportunity.
Or maybe I’m just clueless about the mechanics of diplomacy … 
Yes you are clueless in this regard Finley, I invite you to download the excel file which shows the countries that such an agreement in effect. Papua New Guinea, or how about Nigeria?
Taiwan has many such agreements but there is nothing but pure political logic to it. The Irish govt couldn’t give a rats arse about Taiwan nor Irish citizens in Taiwan.
Has anyone ever tried exchanging a Taiwan license for a foreign one?
Because I come from Oklahoma, Taiwan allowed me to get a Taiwan driver’s license merely by showing my U.S. one. That was sweet.
But now that my home state has made it difficult to renew from abroad, my U.S. license has expired and I have only a TW one.
Although I picked up an international driver’s license last week, it still might be useful to have a real U.S. license, if for no other reason than I hate having to carry around my passport as ID in my own country.
Because TW is fussy about reciprocity in this regard, the fact that I was able to get a TW license with my U.S. one should mean that I can show my TW license and get an Oklahoma one. But I suspect that in rural Oklahoma I would get at best blank stares in return and possibly some suspicious stares directed at the “f[color=#000040]u[/color]rriner.” I might be inclined to try anyway if anyone has ever succeeded at this reverse license swap (doesn’t have to be in Oklahoma).
Hurray. I’m sure all 20 of you are thrilled. Yes, I would merge this if it was the US, UK or Canada. Expect it to get merged again. Soon.
The official list from the DMV is split into geographical areas and those can be downloaded from these links:
thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/north_america.pdf
thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/south_america.pdf
thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/asia.pdf
thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/africa.pdf
thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/australia.pdf
thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/europe.pdf
Please use this thread for all discussions of reciprocal agreement opening or closing between other countries and Taiwan. No, your home country is not special enough to have it’s own thread. Deal with it. All new threads on this topic will be merged into this one.
Hurray. I’m sure all 20 of you are thrilled. Yes, I would merge this if it was the US, UK or Canada. Expect it to get merged again. Soon.[/quote]
The point is to make an ANNOUNCEMENT that people can see, it will drop down the thread list when it is old news. This is big news for every country’s citizens everytime a country gets added.
Why does it have to be one or the other?
BTW, watch the snide remarks. We may be few but you’ll always meet Irish people wherever you go.
I’d agree with that, redwagon. Sure, merge it later once people have read it (all 20 of them…?) but at least let it retain new-thread status for a while. It’s not like people are starting 50 new threads every day … and there was no need to be quite so blunt about it.
If all you need is a photo ID, most (if not all) states in the USA allow you to apply for an ID card even if you don’t drive. Usually it’s issued by the same office that issues driver licenses. I think all you need to show is some kind of proof of residence. Bank statement mailed to your address will often do. Or go to the IRS website and request they mail you some tax forms. I guess you can use your parents’ address or some other relative. You need to check the Oklahoma web site to see what they require. Anyway, armed with your “proof of residence” and a photo ID (like a passport), you should be able to get the ID card. Also bring your old expired driver’s license. No need to take a driving test to get the ID card. Do all your driving with your Taiwanese international license.
Little known fact: your Taiwanese driver’s license never actually expires. Yes, it has an expiration date, but even years after that, all you’ve got to do is show your ARC and you’ll be given a new one. Quite unlike the USA where if your driver’s license is expired by just one day, you’ve got to take the driving test again just as if you never had a license. Kudos to Taiwan for this.
Some information, in case anyone needs it later.
Although Taiwan is under the impression that it has reciprocity with Oklahoma with regard to exchanging drivers licenses, no official I have spoken with in Oklahoma has ever heard about this. Moreover, those I have spoken with seemed certain this reciprocity does not exist. The most liberal answer I got was, “Canada and Germany, maybe. That’s it.”
Also, according to these people, Oklahoma does not allow people to drive in the state with a Taiwan drivers license. Nor does Oklahoma recognize an international drivers license. Of course, they could be wrong. But I pity the person who would ever try to uncover the real situation. (No, the Web site is of very little use – and doesn’t even seem to be available in Taiwan, since it appears that the state is blocking Taiwan IPs from accessing OK government sites!)
It took me days and trips all around town to get my license situation taken care of. A valid United States passport is insufficient identification for those who would get a license here! On the other hand, the combination of, for example, a voter’s ID (which requires no identification whatsoever to procure, but which cannot be acquired except during certain periods) and a high school diploma would be fine. Or, say, a concealed weapons permit. But a U.S. passport by itself? Nope!
Oklahoma used to have what might have been seen as a proud independence. Unfortunately, this seems to have descended – especially among lawmakers – into mere pettiness, provincialism, hidebound bureaucracy, and xenophobia. The only reason I don’t call up the Taiwan office in Houston to complain about Oklahoma’s treatment of Taiwan documentation and get Taiwan’s friendliness toward Oklahoma in this regard ended is that I don’t want to make life harder for any Oklahomans who come to Taiwan.
And from my current viewpoint Taiwan is looking better and better.
Interesting experience you’re having back there, Cranky Laowai. It’s especially interesting that a US Passport isn’t accepted by the state of Oklahoma as a valid ID. Maybe they don’t have diplomatic relations with the USA?
Sorry if I can’t resist taking a potshot at your home state, but ever since I saw this, couldn’t stop laughing:
youtube.com/watch?v=-iYY2FQHFwE
Anyway, I’m sure that there are plenty of “Okies” who are perfectly sensible and frustrated by the stifling bureaucracy. Which brings me to another point you mentioned: “Taiwan is looking better all the time.”
I happen to agree with you. Despite all the whining I hear from expats (including many here on Forumosa), my dealings with the American bureaucracy has been just as bad, or worse, than anything I encounter here in Taiwan. Anyone think the Taiwanese tax office, Immigration, police, Motor Vehicle Department, medical insurance, etc, etc, is bad - just try the US equivalent. I was back in the Old Country three years ago, and found it perfectly scary. Perhaps there was a time in the past when America could claim to be “the greatest,” but that time has passed. I don’t even want to go back for a visit anymore.
Where is your birth certificate? If you were born in the US, problem solved.
How about your Social Security Number and card?
You can get both from your City Hall.
For those who are not familiar in the American way of “forms of ID”, each items is “rated/ranked” in importance/authenticity/whatever. A citizen needs to provide a certain combination of IDs. I understand why they do this, but I don’t understand how they determine the rank of many items.
For example: A birth certificate, Social Security Number and State-Issued ID are the “highest” ranked. (simple enough)
Then comes (I guess, cause I haven’t done this in a while) library card (with the idea that a library will only issue you a card if you have proof of address), utility bill (nowadays cell phones and bank statements are no good since you can have them mailed anywhere or do Paperless), High School Diploma (because its easy to call up the school and confirm the authenticity), voter’s card (because in order to vote, you must’ve provided your SSN and maybe State-Issued ID number on the form), etc.
So in effect, all of these ID work off of eachother and the highest ranked forms. A certain combo of them is demanded.
I don’t understand this ID ranking order. Social security cards, birth certificate, marriage certificate, high school diploma, don’t even have a photo. A passport does have a photo. Also, these “higher” documents are pretty easy to forge (forged social security cards are easily bought on the streets anywhere illegal aliens congregate - Los Angeles, for example). Birth certificates would be even easier to forge since they aren’t a standard design. High school diplomas are easiest to forge - I could whip one out on my computer. But passports are very difficult to forge, especially now since they include a built-in RFID chip.
I personally have both a US passport and a “passport card.” Most people don’t know about the latter, but I think it’s worth getting one. You can only get it when you apply for a new passport or a passport renewal, and it costs US$20 extra (worth it, I think). The passport card is only valid for overland travel between the USA and Canada/Mexico, and by boat to a few Caribbean Islands (the Bahamas, among others). But by itself, it’s a valid ID, and can be shown if you need to get a new passport should you lose your old one. It would be very difficult to forge this card - it’s made of plastic and has all kinds of built-in security.
:bravo: “Taiwanese driver’s license reciprocity” :ohreally:
I have been in Taiwan for years now. I was pulled over with an International Driver’s License Validated by the Taiwanese office in Houston Texas. The Hsinchu police told me that I needed a Taiwan Driver’s License to drive in Taiwan. I was let go without a fine, “you have been warned. Get your license.” Hsinchu City Police Officer.
Ok, so I never managed to obtain a driver’s license and just avoided police, accidents and tried my best to be a good driver. This summer I made my first trip back to America. I went and picked up my Missouri Driver’s License and State ID. I had a great plan, Military Personal have their state ID’s address updated with their overseas address, I’ll update mine. Then, I’ll transfer my Missouri Driver’s license for a Taiwan Driver’s license.
Previously I tried to update my Texas State ID and Driver’s license in like fashion but ran into trouble when I discovered that Texas would only update my address as “Taiwan a Provence of China.” And so, being that Texas does not even recognize Taiwan’s legal status, when I tried to trade out my license I was understandably told: “No, not for Texas, just Missouri and Oklahoma.”
So, to the point, sorry to ramble on… I verified that I could update my Missouri State ID’s address to my local Taipei Taiwan Address while in Missouri, I even met a Taiwanese man who had taken advantage of Missouri’s reciprocity agreement, things seemed cool. 
But then the moment of truth arrived; today I went to the Taipei Motor Vehicles Office to exchange my Missouri Driver’s license for a Taiwanese Driver’s license. :no-no: No Dice! Yep, no way, impossible, they say I can only use an international driver’s license to drive as a foreigner in Taiwan unless I am emigrating from South Africa. 
I was told this verbatim from the main office here in Taipei, today. I demanded to speak to the supervisor and he told me the same thing. My fiance spoke with them in Chinese and they said: "We have already told your foreigner he needs go back to America and get an International Driver’s License then have his documents Validated by the Taiwanese office in Houston Texas. There is no other way for him to drive in Taiwan. 
I asked to speak with his supervisor and was told: “You leave now.” No.21, Sec.4, Bade Rd.,Taipei, 10561 
So, let me put this myth to rest, Taiwan no longer offers Reciprocity to any state of the United States of America. Or, if they do, they are unaware of their own policies. :roflmao:
Was this always the case? Apparently not, My fiance moved to Taiwan from Minnesota and exchanged her license without a hitch… 
last I heard oklahoma was only state with driver’s license reciprocity.
Wouldn’t it be quicker and easier just to do the test here and get a local license?
Not if it was truly reciprocal, no.
It’s not that they don’t validate … it’s the way you do it. Belgium has reciprocity with Taiwan, but I had to translate, notarize and have my Belgian license verified by the TECO in Brussels before I could go to the DMV where they gave me a Taiwanese license.
Not just swap licenses.